Sermon from First Church

Below is my sermon from Sunday July 17th, 2011. It begins with the bible passage i am speaking on, my sermon is in caps. Sorry about the caps, it makes it easier to read from the pulpit.

Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹ So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. ¹² Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
¹³ And behold, the LORD stood above it and said: “I am the LORD God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. ¹⁴ Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
¹⁶ Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”

PLEASE PRAY WITH ME. LORD MAY MY WORDS OPEN HEARTS AND MINDS HERE TODAY. AMEN

I WAS OUT OF MY MIND. I WAS STANDING IN A SMALL COURTYARD OUTSIDE THE AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER IN CAMBRIDGE, AND I AM NOT EXAGGERATING WHEN I SAY I WAS ON THE VERGE OF TEARS. I HAD BEEN CALLED IN ON A SATURDAY, TO AUDITION TO FILL IN FOR AN ACTOR IN A SHOW. THE SHOW WAS CALLED JOHNNY BASEBALL, A GREAT MUSICAL ABOUT THE RED SOX. BUT IT WAS ALSO ABOUT LOVE AND PREDJUDICE AND HOPE. IT WAS AN AMAZING MUSICAL, AND HAD BEEN EXTENDED, AND BECAUSE OF THAT EXTENSION AN ACTOR COULD NOT DO THE SHOW ONE NIGHT. SO I AUDITIONED TO FILL IN FOR HIM. I GOT THE JOB, THEY CAST ME ON A SATURDAY, THE FOLLOWING DAY I DROVE THE YOUTH GROUP TO STATEN ISLAND, TURNED AROUND AND WAS BACK HERE ON MONDAY. I HAD REHEARSALS MONDAY TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AND WENT ON THURSDAY NIGHT. I PLAYED 4 DIFFERENT CHARACTERS, WAS IN 7 SONGS, AND IT WAS A LOT OF WORK. I FELT AT ONE POINT LIKE IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE FOR ME TO DO IT.

IN THE MUSICAL, ONE CHARACTER THAT SHOWS UP IS WILLIE MAYS. I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO LOVE BASEBALL TO THE POINT OF SPEWING OFF STATISTICS, BUT EVEN I KNEW OF WILLIE MAYS, THE SAY HEY KID. IN THE MUSICAL, AND IN LIFE, HE TRIED OUT AND WAS REJECTED BY THE RED SOX. HE WAS TAKEN ON BY THE NEW YORK GIANTS. HIS FIRST 26 TIMES AT BAT, HE GOT ONE HIT. HIS FUTURE WAS PRETTY UNCERTAIN. HE WAS SITTING IN THE LOCKER ROOM, CRYING, WHEN THE GIANTS MANAGER, LEO DUROCHER, FOUND HIM AND ASKED HIM WHAT WAS WRONG. WILLIE SAID, I CAN’T HIT UP THERE, I BELONG IN THE MINOR LEAGUES. DEROUCHER LOOKED AT HIM AND SAID, AS LONG AS I AM MANAGER, YOU ARE MY CENTER FIELDER.

WILLIE MAYS WENT ON TO HIT 660 HOME RUNS, THIRD ON THE ALL TIME RUNS LIST, AND STEAL OVER 300 BASES.

AND AS I STOOD THERE IN CAMBRIDGE IN TERROR, ONE OF THE OTHER ACTORS IN THE SHOW CAME UP TO ME AND SAID, ‘HEY YOU’RE GOING TO BE GREAT”. THOSE WORDS GROUNDED ME. GAVE ME HOPE, AND LET ME REFOCUS AND DO MY WORK. AND DID I GO ON, YOU BET I DID, AND IT WAS GREAT. IN JUST THREE DAYS OF REHEARSAL, I SOMEHOW MANAGED TO DO IT ALL JUSTICE, IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST NIGHTS OF MY LIFE.

NOW WE GET TO JACOB.

I LOVE THIS BIBLE PASSAGE. MOST OF US PASS OVER IT, OR AT LEAST PARTS OF IT AND WE FOCUS ON THE IDEA OF JACOBS LADDER. WE THINK OF THE SONG, OR PERHAPS OF THE CHILDREN S TOY, OR IF WE ARE REALLY IN A STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS WE HAVE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN PLAYING IN OUR MINDS.  AND THE IMAGE OF JACOB USING A STONE FOR HIS PILLOW…IS THIS WHERE THE HARD ROCK HOTEL STARTED? TOO MUCH? BUT LIKE SO MANY PASSAGES IN THE BIBLE WE SOMETIMES MISS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DIG A LITTLE DEEPER, AND FIND A LITTLE MORE.

WE NEED TO FIRST THINK OF WHERE JACOB WAS IN HIS LIFE. HE IS IN A PLACE WILLIE MAYS AND I HAVE BEEN IN, AND I SUSPECT YOU HAVE BEEN AS WELL. A DARK PLACE, A PLACE OF NO HOPE. HE HAD CHEATED HIS OWN BROTHER OUT OF HIS BIRTHRIGHT, HAD FOOLED HIS FATHER, DECEIVED AN OLD BLIND MAN TO GAIN HIS BLESSING. NOW HE WAS OFF IN SEARCH OF A WIFE, AND AS HE LAID HIS HEAD DOWN ON A ROCK IN A ROUGH AREA TO SLEEP. I CAN ONLY IMAGINE HOW HOPELESS JACOB FELT. HE HAD PLOTTED WITH HIS MOTHER, ANGERED HIS FATHER, BETRAYED AND ALIENATED HIS BROTHER TO THE POINT HE COULDN’T EVEN FACE HIM.

THEN COMES THE LADDER. A LADDER THAT SHOWS ANGELS GOING BACK AND FORTH, AND AT THE TOP, GOD HIMSELF. GOD HIMSELF WHO TELLS JACOB HE WILL BE OWN THE VERY LAND HE IS SLEEPING ON, AND WILL HAVE A NATION OF DESCENDANTS. ALL THAT CAME TRUE BY THE WAY. BUT GOD ALSO SAYS SOME OF THE BEST WORDS IN THE BIBLE. HE TELLS JACOB HE IS WITH HIM, AND WILL BE WITH HIM WHEREVER HE GOES. AND HE SAYS THE VERY SAME THING TO US. JESUS TELLS US, LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS.

WHAT GREAT COMFORT, WHAT SOLACE WE CAN ALL TAKE FROM KNOWING WE ARE NEVER UNCARED FOR, NEVER JUST LAYING WITH OUR HEAD ON A ROCK IN A BARREN PLACE. WE HAVE OUR GREAT COMFORTER NEAR US. AND I LOVE THAT GOD DID NOT CHASTISE OR JUDGE JACOB FOR THE ILLS HE HAD DONE WITH HIS LIFE BUT FOCUSES ON THE GOOD HE CAN DO GOING INTO THE FUTURE. FOR JACOB, THIS WAS A TURNING POINT IN HIS LIFE. AND IN A KEY MOMENT, HE NO LONGER REFERS TO GOD AS HIS FATHERS GOD, BUT SAYS THAT THE LORD WILL BE HIS GOD.

BUT WAIT, THERE IS MORE. I LOVE THE IMAGE OF ANGELS GOING UP AND DOWN THE LADDER, BACK AND FORTH TO EARTH. I AM A FIRM BELIEVER THAT WE HAVE ANGELS AROUND US ALL THE TIME, AND I FURTHER BELIEVE EACH OF US HAS THE ABILITY TO BE AN ANGEL IN A PERSONS LIFE. LEO DESROCHER WAS IN WILLIE MAYS LIFE, MY FELLOW ACTOR AT THE THEATER WAS IN MINE. AND MANY OF US HAVE SEEN THESE ANGELS EVERY DAY. THEY HELP US, COMFORT US, AND MOST OF ALL, DON’T JUDGE US BY THE BAD WE HAVE DONE, BUT FOCUS ON THE GOOD WE CAN DO.

LET US REMEMBER A FEW KEY POINTS,THAT GOD IS ALWAYS BESIDE US, OFFERING US COMFORT. THAT WE CAN FIND ANGELS AROUND US ALWAYS, AND BEST OF ALL, EACH OF US HAS THE ABILITY TO BE AN ANGEL. AND BY ACTING AS AN ANGEL GIVING GRACE, MORE GRACE COMES TO US. IF WE TAKE A MINUTE TO PONDER WHAT ANGELS HAVE COME TO US IN OUR LIVES, IT MAY STRIKE YOU HOW UNLIKELY THEY ARE. WHEN I FIRST CAME TO THIS CHURCH, IF ANYONE HAD TOLD ME THAT A CHURCH ELDER WITH A SOUTHERN DRAWL WOULD BE MY ANGEL AND CHAMPION, I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THEM CRAZY. BUT A HIGHLIGHT FOR ME AFTER EACH OF MY SERMONS WAS BRUCE BRYANT GIVING ME A THUMBS UP, AND ALWAYS SAYING THE SAME THING. “DYNAMITE MY FRIEND.”  NOW IF I EVER TOLD BRUCE HE WAS AN ANGEL TO ME, HE WOULD HAVE DRIVEN ME TO THE NEAREST EYE DOCTOR. BUT I SHARE THAT PERSPECTIVE WITH YOU SO THAT BRUCE CAN TEACH YOU A LESSON. NONE OF US THINK OF OURSELVES AS ANGELS, BUT JUST BY DOING THE SIMPLE HUMAN AND HUMANE THINGS TO PEOPLE IN OUR LIVES, WE BECOME ANGELS.

THERE IS A WONDERFUL POEM BY  A WOMAN NAMED SHEILA NELSON-MCJILTON* ENTITLED, WHO SLEEPS ON HOLY STONES, A MEDITATION ON GENESIS 28, 10-17. IT IS A GORGEOUS REFLECTION ON THIS IDEA THAT EVEN AT AN UNEXPECTED AND LOW MOMENT IN OUR LIFE, WE CAN SUDDENLY FIND OURSELVES BLESSED AND CHERISHED. I WOULD LIKE TO READ YOU THE END OF THIS POEM IN CONCLUSION OF MY SERMON TODAY.

I left home, soul that raged with wild emptiness

And in this desert wilderness,

Angels carve holy names for sleep.

They dance a path between me and You, O Lord God.

You have found me, broken and empty,

On holy stones that ascend to the very gates of heaven

And you have not cursed me.

In a desert midnight, I know

The smell of blessed fields

Grain

I will tell of You, 0 Lord God,

To laughing children who bless my tent,

To strong children who become tribes as countless as dust

I will tell them of desert midnights filled with blazing stars

Of fierce angels who carve holy stones

And dance with glittering swords among clouds,

Of hymns sung by joyous stars over Bethel

And over Bethlehem.

SHEILA NELSON-MCJILTON*

AMEN